About this Event
The exceptional musical legacy of Leo Gandelman
Leo Gandelman is one of the most expressive artists in Brazilian culture over the last four
decades. The scope and importance of his work have made a significant contribution to
instrumental music, unprecedented in our history.
Saxophonist, composer, arranger and music producer, he is one of the main people
responsible for spreading the instrumental genre to the general public, collaborating, since the
1990s, to popularize Brazilian jazz and other styles, both in Brazil and around the world.
The prominence of his legacy led him to recently receive the title of Doctor Honoris Causa
(Notorious Knowledge) from the University of Brasília. Born in Rio de Janeiro, the son of
maestro Henrique Gandelman and pianist and teacher Saloméa Gandelman, Leo has moved
between classical and popular music from an early age, crossing both boundaries, in the words
of journalist and critic Luiz Paulo Sampaio.
Rare are the musicians who inhabit the threshold of a music without limits. Among the
highlights of his career are his participation as a soloist in the main orchestras in Brazil and in
some of the most important in the world. His most recent work took place this year, with the
Amazonas Philharmonic Orchestra, in Manaus, in the “Songs of the Amazon Forest” Project.
Conceived by Gandelman, the concert celebrates the cultural and ecological richness of Brazil,
with works that take the audience on a sensorial and poetic journey through the largest forest
in the world.
Last year, he was featured with the São Paulo Jazz Symphony Orchestra, playing pieces of his
own composition, such as “Luz Azul”, “Neshama” and “Solar”. He also performed four times
with the Moscow Symphony Orchestra (from 2012 to 2016), interpreting pieces from the bossa
nova songbook such as "A felicidade", "Chega de Saudade" (both by Tom Jobim and Vinícius de
Moraes), "Meditação" (Tom Jobim and Newton Mendonça), "Wave" (Tom Jobim) and "Manha
de Carnaval" (Antônio Maria and Luiz Bonfá). In 2019, he performed with the acclaimed
Montevideo Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Ligia Amadio. He was also a soloist in a
concert with the Caracas Youth Orchestra, interpreting Villa-Lobos's "Fantasia", conducted by
Isaac Karabtchevsky (2009). In Brazil, he performed with the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra
(OSB) the "Concertino para Saxofone", by Radamés Gnattali, and “Fantasia” by Villa-Lobos
(2012 and 2005), conducted by conductors such as Roberto Duarte and Silvio Barbato. He
performed the same pieces with the OSB in memorable concerts at the Central Park
Summerstage Concerts and at the Lincoln Center in New York (2001), alongside conductor
Yeruham Scharovsky.
In honor of the centenary of Radamés Gnattali, in 2006, he recorded his “Concertino for
Saxophone” on DVD with the Petrobras Brazilian Symphony Orchestra. He performed several concerts with the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra (Osesp) between 2003 and 2017, some
of them conducted by John Neschling. In recent years, he has performed with the Minas Gerais
Philharmonic Orchestra, the São Paulo Municipal Theater Orchestra, the Rio de Janeiro
Municipal Theater Orchestra, the National Theater Symphony Orchestra, the Brasília
Symphony Orchestra, the Bahia Symphony Orchestra, the Cesgranrio Symphony Orchestra, the
Barra Mansa Symphony Orchestra, the UFRJ Wind Orchestra, the Curitiba Music Workshop
Orchestra, among many others.
Leo Gandelman is undoubtedly one of the most awarded Brazilian musicians of the last
decades. One of the artist's rare and unique achievements is having sold more than 500
thousand instrumental music records, with the highlight being his third album, “Solar”, from
1990, which sold more than 100 thousand copies and was nominated in five categories of the
Prêmio Sharp (record, music, arrangement, instrumentalist and producer).
With the album “Radamés e o sax” (2007), he won the Tim Award in the categories of best
instrumental album and best producer. He recorded a total of 21 albums and three DVDs. He
was elected the best instrumentalist in Brazil for 15 consecutive years, at the Diretas da
Música Award, from the Magazine Program of the Jornal do Brasil, in addition to awards from
the São Paulo Association of Art Critics (APCA) as best instrumentalist (1990) and best
producer (1991).
The artist's talent in his interface with audiovisual has generated important awards such as the
silver medal at the New York Festivals TV & Films Awards, in the Performing Arts category, in
2021, with the series “Vamos tocar”, shown on the Bis channel. As a soundtrack composer, he
won awards at the Recife and Belém film festivals with the film "Garrincha: a estrela Solitária”
(2003). He has been working as a screenwriter, producer and film director.
On YouTube, he stands out as the producer and director of the channel “Machines Series”,
which mixes jazz with different musical styles, such as hip hop, pop and others.
Leo Gandelman has performed thousands of shows in recent decades, at all the main music
festivals in Brazil and around the world. He is one of the highlights of the Rock in Rio line-up
this year, for the second time, and has performed at the same festival in Lisbon and Las Vegas.
He has appeared on the music scene in countries such as the United States, where he
performed at the Blue Note in New York for six sold-out seasons; Switzerland, at the
incomparable Mountreux Festival; Ukraine, where he played with the renowned Kiev
Saxophone Quintet; as well as Israel, Uruguay, Egypt, Morocco, Malaysia, Singapore, Iran,
Kuwait, England, Italy, Spain, Russia and many others.
As a music producer and instrumentalist, he has participated in more than 1,000 CDs, by both
Brazilian and international artists. He has recorded with wind instruments, performed solos,
composed arrangements and produced great names in samba, MPB, bossa nova, instrumental
music, rock and other styles. The list is long, and includes names such as: Caetano Veloso,
Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa, Milton Nascimento, Ney Matogrosso, Fagner, Elba Ramalho, Alceu
Valenca, Geraldo Azevedo, Fafa of Belém, Moraes Moreira, John Gilberto, Leny Andrade, Luiz
Melodia, Djavan, Boca Livre, Toquinho, The Cariocas, Margareth Menezes, Leila Pinheiro,
Frejat, Fernanda Abreu, Seu Jorge, Carlos Brown, Roberta Sá, Pepeu Gomes, Baby Consuelo,
Paulinho da Viola, Beth Carvalho, Neguinho da Beija Flor,Fundo de Quintal, Alcione, João
Nogueira, Rita Lee, Lulu Santos, Guilherme Arantes, Roberto Carlos, Erasmo Carlos, Paralamas
do Sucesso, Roupa Nova, among others.
Creativity, versatility, boldness and innovation make Leo Gandelman a musician who has gone
beyond the boundaries of the instrumental “niche”, making him recognized by the general
public, young and pop, as well as by MPB fans, and also associating his name with the
excellence and virtuosity of concert music.
Leo Gandelman plays a vital role in Brazilian music as a saxophone virtuoso and as an
ambassador of Brazilian music to the world, contributing to the evolution and popularity of
genres such as jazz and instrumental music in Brazil.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Bull's Head, 373 Lonsdale Road, London, United Kingdom
GBP 22.38
